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AP
Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum waves as he leaves after speaking to supporters at Westminster Christian Academy Saturday, March 17, 2012, in Town and Country, Mo.
EFFINGHAM, Ill. -- Rick Santorum on Saturday guaranteed that a win in the Illinois primary will result in his nomination as the Republican presidential nominee.
"This is a primary, and turnout is everything. You do your job, you do your job, then this is the pledge," Santorum said. "If we're able to come out of Illinois with a huge or surprise win, I guarantee you, I guarantee you that we will win this nomination."
Illinois has largely been predicted to favor Mitt Romney for Tuesday's primary. The vote is expected to be driven by Chicago and its surrounding suburbs, pegged as unfavorable territory for the former Pennsylvania senator's brand of conservatism. But in areas like Effingham, hours south of the Windy City, Santorum hopes to fire up a Republican base that is often overshadowed by its Democratic counterparts to the north.
"You know you don't get a chance to out-vote your friends up in the Chicago-land area very often, but this is a primary and turnout is everything," he said, standing in a warehouse of a local business specializing in kitchen equipment.
While stumping in the Land of Lincoln, Santorum said he feels like he's already running in the general election.
“People ask me why I’m the best candidate to run against Barack Obama," said Santorum. "It’s because I feel like, in many respects, I am running against Barack Obama here in this primary because Mitt Romney has the same positions as Barack Obama in this primary.”
The health care bill that Romney signed as governor of Massachusetts is the issue Santorum has been hammering him on most frequently.
Santorum says the legislation laid the groundwork for the health care bill Obama signed in 2010, and therefore a Romney nomination would prohibit him from successfully running on a platform of repealing it.
Energy is another issue Santorum claims his Republican rival shares with Obama. “Why, with sky rocketing gas prices, would we nominate someone who had the same position as President Obama with respect to fossil fuels?" he asked.
Santorum began his day stumping in neighboring Missouri, a state that held a non-binding primary that he won last month, but today is holding caucuses. During a visit to a caucus site in Hazelwood, Santorum claimed dominance: "If you look at the Midwest, all of the Midwest is one color. It’s our color. We’ve won every state in the Midwest."
That statement dismisses Ohio and Michigan, two states Romney won, as part of the Midwest. Asked about it later in the day, Santorum said, "Well, I meant the heartland."
But even in the Show Me State, it was clear how important the primary happening happening across the Mississippi River will be to the Santorum campaign. “When you leave here, go home, sign up on our website, start calling folks in Illinois. Because we’ve got a big election coming up in a couple days in Illinois," he pleaded. "Please help us out there. If you’ve got friends over there, make sure they get out and help us out."
And even with an aggressive campaign schedule in two states today, the Italian American still found time to show his St. Patrick's Day spirit. On the stump he wore a green boutineer and his campaign manager tweeted out a picture of him enjoying a Guinness at an Irish pub between stops.
"I usually get there in the morning so I felt a little bad I didn’t get there until lunch time," he said of his March 17 traditional pilgrimage to the pub.
Update: In response to Santorum's comments on Saturday, Romney campaign spokesperson Ryan Williams had this to say:
"Senator Santorum is an economic lightweight who has precisely zero job creating experience. He ought to scare every conservative when it comes to his economic record. We won't get the economy going again by replacing one senator with no job creating experience with another with no job creating experience."
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Funny how so many Obama supporters have no clue that his U.S. total debt has sped up to 1 million dollars added to it every 21 seconds .... "LOL"
He can't even slow it down a little ....
oh for heavens sake...get your info straight...your beloved reagan increased the debt many times more than obama has...and don't forget no taxer repugs that reagan raised taxes 12 times...
That's what Obama is good at ....
Pointing his finger somewhere else ....
How much are two wars adding to the debt? That's right, people like you don't take that fact into consideration. Keep making a fool of yourself.
Hey Big Ben, do you want Bush and other Republicans back?
They got us into this current fix in the first place and you think they are going to fix it?
Clinton turned a Surplus over to Bush and he not only Squandered it, he turned it into the Largest Deficit in American History. Bush Started the Auto Bailout and the Bank Bailouts
Thank God you are not a History Teacher and Thank God we have the Internet!
I think Obama has nearly tripled our deficit since he was elected. Get your facts straight.
charles - that's total BULL@!$%# and I'm not afraid to tell you so. There were 3 or 4 TRILLION kept off the books by Shrub and associates
But Santorum, the voters of Illinois have those "evil" educations you are so against. Him equating a win in Illinois with the GOP nomination is really stretching reality.
"This is a primary, and turnout is everything. You do your job, you do your job, then this is the pledge," Santorum said. "If we're able to come out of Illinois with a huge or surprise win, I guarantee you, I guarantee you that we will win this nomination."
This is not a football game. John
YES, Santorum for the GOP nomination and...OBAMA FOR NOVEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Hallelujah.
I don't think Santorum will win in Illinois. He may carry some parts of Southern Illinois because they do lean conservative there but that won't be enough for him. I don't think Santorum would make a good president. I didn't think Obama was qualified nor would make a good president. I hope America gets it right this time.
Which of the IDIOT fuc king DOPEY DWARFS would you prefer? All are stupid to a FAULT
Didn't someone say that they were going to cut our deficit in halve in his first term ....
Well , that didn't happen ....
It's getting close to having to raise our debt ceiling again ....
Great ....
That's what happens when Republicans scare the Hell out of the Voters and they Vote the Republicans back into the House in the Election of 2010.
Then they sat on their hands like spoiled rotten brats obstructing Obama and Ignoring the Will of the American People ever since.
figures someone from Palin country would say something like this...why don't you try to understand how government works before you blow this crap out of your mouth...
That surely didn't keep Obama from throwing billions out of the white house window ....
One would like to think that any possibility that this imbecile would be the GOP candidate would be welcome news to Obama--but, thinking about it,I am reminded of Mencken's observation that no one ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the common folk or failed to achieve public office thereby..God help us if he was correct.
Is this the same guarentee he gave that if elected gas will be $2.50 per gal, He will defund planed parenthood, and stop women from haveing thing to say about their bodies, And OVER RIDE THE SUPREME COURT ON PORNOGHPY. Is this him?
Well, good luck with that Rick. I hope you win too. That would make it one easy cake walk for Obama!
be careful what you wish for...who would have ever thought that the brain dead bush baby would have become president, two times no less. don't think that the repugs won't try to steal the election like they did with the bush baby...first time with the help of his brother governor and the second time with monkeyed around with voting machines in ohio...
With the current rate of inflation ....
Our standard of living has also been lowered ....
Big Ben, you're preaching to the Choir!
That's why the Republicans need to be thrown out of the House of Representatives too and the reason we can't go back to George W. Bush and his policies, EVER!
Life was Pretty Good until George W. Bush and his Lockstep Republicans got into Office!
You didn't see 911 ....
Or remember it ....
Big Ben, The Saudis attacked on 911, not Saddam and they used four Jetliners.
Bush response cost us Trillions in Taxpayer Dollars and nearly gave us our Second Great Depression.
Trillions-Four Jetliners
Who used their Resources smarter?
Do you use a 357 Magnum to Kill a Fly?
And Bush didn't even catch Bin Laden!
You have to be ready for a real fight and not shoot all your Ammo!
His war was only 1 trillion ....
Not the multiple trillions Obama has thrown away and played with ....
The Auto and Bank Bailouts were started by Bush because of the Sub Prime Melt Down. What don't you understand about that?
MSNBC just wants to continue to try and throw doubt into this race that's why they run these types of articles. Their sole purpose is to do whatever they can to help those on the left win. This isn't about what is right, fair, true, honest, or ethical, it is about trying to do whatever possible to get your guy into office. That is not what journalism or news should be about. If any of these news sites can't tell the truth or try to be honest and objective and get at the truth, then they should not be in business.
Yes,,,real investigated news is dead when it comes to NBC(national bama corp) or msDNC!
But chicago has had all sorts of high temperatures. Santorum will tell them that it's all part of a cycle. But never will tell them when they cycle will turn downward. Because al gore's chart shows avg temp going up & up and off the tops of the charts. It never comes down.
oBama/holder lies and people still die!
I know that in Rick's eyes I'm little more than a baby-making machine with the ability to talk, but -- unlike our boy Rick -- I live in reality. And buddy, you aren't taking Illinois and you aren't president. And once you lose the nomination, I cannot wait for the backlash for everything you've said and promised during your campaign.
Also, if you take away porn, I will be pissed.
1st it was a fabricated slut and now it's porn! Libtars cannot and will not run on this socialist lib moocher puke president"s record so this is what this fake news channel and oBAMAzombies give us!
This 'thunder' is an exemplar of the intellectual and emotional cripple that keeps the responsible citizens of this world from any realistic hope that stupidity will eventually disappear or at least be overcome. The brute will survive and continue to gush out drivel and filthy illiterate slop such as this.
Couldn't agree more, joel.
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”
― Isaac Asimov
And hopefully you will win the nomination; but you will NEVER win the PRESIDENCY. NEVER!!!
Get off your knees and stop praying on a Blog. The Left Wing Liberal Socialists are running scared. Keep going
Sammy
More stupid drivel and illiterate slop
The key word is "If"! There he goes again! 'Ol Rick Saint-torum talking bad about president Obama when he has no ideas at on how to fix the economy. He, along with the other three, have been spewing the same rhetoric over and over about president Obama, while the president has gained in Hispanic/Latino community, helped bring the stock market above 13,000, shut down one war and begun shutting down the other. America is sick and tired of wars that has no end. But Saint-torum would start a war against Iran over unproven WMD's just like baby boy Bush did in Iraq. Saint-torum keeps wanting to religi-fy his candidacy to attract the gullible about abortion and contraception instead of jobs production. The abortion and contraception issues will not generate any jobs, all it does is war against American women. These final four all profess the same worn out logic with no real concrete improvements to the economy. They still beg, professing Reagan's name, while keeping their contentious arrogance and wrong-winged, fringed, confrontational-ist attitude.
You can have my porn when you pry it from my cold dead.. errr... other hand.
Life was Pretty Good under Bill Clinton until George W. Bush and his Lockstep Republicans got into Office!
Then the Republican Nightmare began!
The Obama Nightmare is more than this country can stand. We need to run him out of our Oval Office with a stick
You mean when unemployment was 4% and gas was $1 to $2 a gallon idiot?
Kudos to George W Bush
If he wins the nomination, it will be a gift for OBAMA2012.
So Rick "man on dog" Santorum is now talking about his dillusions?
That's it Rick, hate on Chicago, that would serve you well in the general... if of course there was a snowball's chance in the 75 degree hoax of this non-global warming March of you getting that far.
How many gov's from chicago are in the big house now? I think 2 at last count!
Santurom, Romney, Newt and Paul combined will just be a warm up for OBAM. Lets include rush so there will be a fat clown.
GO, RICK, GO!
lol
What a GOP freakshow we have. Dumb, dumber and Rick Sharia law, the dumbest!!!
Ron Paul comes across as the only human among these idiots...
And if Paul got the nomination,I would put my full support behind him! Anything and I mean ANYTHING, would be better then this socialist lib moocher foodstamp puke president and status administration that we have now!
don't hold your breath - I have a better chance of garnering the nomination AND I'M NOT EVEN RUNNING
so if you lose it are you done?